My Company

With video quickly becoming the most popular and effective form of insurance and annuity sales communication, agents need to understand what constitutes an effective video.

Jerry Bader is senior partner at MRPwebmedia, a website design and marketing firm that specializes in Web Video Marketing and Video Websites. In an article he recently wrote on developing your own business videos, he said:

. . . your image and message are far too important to leave up to amateurs who don't understand how to develop and present a marketing message using the web video medium.

For those who think that professional Web video is too expensive, I would advise the real cost of "do it yourself" amateurism is lost sales and reputation.

Jerry's point is that anyone can make a video — just as anyone can cook a meal. And the difference between a video done correctly (as well as professionally) and a video done incorrectly or amateurishly, is little different than a good meal prepared by a professional chef and a meal you prepare for
yourself. They just don't come out the same.

In addition to the "do it yourself" amateur video productions, there are also hundreds of video production companies that are quite capable of the technical production (filming, graphics and animation) but very, very few are as professionally competent at message development and script composition as well.

And that's where a video can do you more harm than good. Because the quality of the message composition (the script) used to produce a video, is crucially important to both the results you get and the image you portray. And not only the message composition, but how that message is conveyed visually, audibly and psychologically.

"The truth is" says Jerry, "you can get away with a lot of technical stuff on the web, but you can't ever get away with inferior messaging — both in concept and performance."

He goes on to say that "Web video is an exercise in psychological persuasion, not a display of technical wizardry."

Jerry concludes by saying: "Everybody likes to save money … but saving money at the cost of your company's reputation and identity can be a costly mistake. If you don't understand how to convert your message into a meaningful story, it is best you find someone who does."

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About the Author

Dan was in personal production for twenty years before he sold his business in 1997. During those years, he worked primarily with small business owners and professional practitioners - providing them with personal, employee and executive benefits.